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Gill Forced to Cancel Fundraiser Over Marijuana Charges

The good boy persona of Ricky Gill appears to be fading quickly over the last few months as yet another associate of his has been caught in legal trouble which forced him to cancel a fundraiser tonight in Stockton. More annoying is that when Gill hits a rough patch on the campaign trail, he puts blame on opponent Jerry McNerney as opposed to taking responsibility.

I received a few emails late yesterday pointing me back to Josh Richman’s story in the Contra Costa Times about Gill’s cancelled event which I didn’t even want to touch because he covered it pretty good while Lisa Vorderbrueggen a few months ago shared the connection between Ricky Gill and Harvey Whittemore who is tied to Harry Reid for a campaign finance scandal. Thinking about it more, the response by the Gill camp didn’t sit well with me which I will get two in a minute.

The fundraiser tonight was to be $125-per person at Le Bistro. Some of my friends have stated he should continue on with the event but change the ticket price to $420—a similar comment is on the Times website which is where I am sure they got it.

While Gill cannot be entirely blamed on this, it does raise questions about who he chooses to associates with as this is now the second time his associates have been in trouble with the law.

According to the Stockton Record, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the two-count indictment Wednesday of Matthew R. Davies, 34; Lynn F. Smith, 62; and Robert Duncan, 29. Apparently the investigation began last September.

Police officers discovered hundreds of marijuana plants and 14 people inside the warehouse. Duncan, who was among the group, told officers the people were there to process marijuana.

Inside the warehouse, authorities found a letter addressed to Smith, of Central Valley Caregivers Cooperative Inc. in Stockton, and bank statements that showed hundreds of thousands of dollars had been deposited for Central Valley Caregivers and Medizen in Sacramento.

Agents said they also seized marijuana, cash, documents and computers from both dispensaries, Davies’ Embarcadero Drive home in Stockton, Smith’s Fourteen Mile Drive home in Stockton, and the duo’s business office at 3620 W. Hammer Lane.

Davies, Smith and Duncan face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted.

Then we get the Ricky Gill response via his spokesman Colin Hunter which is a bunch of baloney because it should be Mr. Gill who issues the response. With that said, Mr. Hunter tries the political tactic of when in doubt, blame the opponent! They smoothly throw out the Solyndra donation and proceed to talk about Jerry McNerney as a failure.

Gill spokesman Colin Hunter today said the campaign cancelled the fundraiser as soon as Matthew Davies’ indictment was reported in the Record, and Gill has not received any contributions from the Davies family.

“This is a transparent attempt to distract from the real issue in this campaign: Jerry McNerney’s utter failure to stand up for our communities in Congress on jobs, foreclosures and agriculture,” Hunter said. “Perhaps the Democrats ought to worry about the real contributions McNerney took – from big banks and from Solyndra’s lead investor, to name just a few – rather than the hypothetical contributions Ricky didn’t.”

Hunter said Gill “does not object to the legitimate, physician-prescribed use of marijuana to treat serious, chronic or debilitating illnesses. He believes state and federal governments should work together to craft a sensible enforcement plan that will hold accountable those individuals operating outside or in clear violation of medical marijuana regimes, but will not penalize seriously ill patients seeking only to manage their pain.”

Okay, so if Gill has not received any contributions from the Davies family, why the cancelled event and what is the problem? It doesn’t add up! But I am more annoyed with the statement “its’ a transparent attempt to distract from real issues in the campaign”.

Really? I tend to think of it as media trying to get information to share. Afterall, how are voters going to make an intelligent decision at the ballot box when stories involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office and indictments are not shared and details remain hidden of how tied in someone is to someone who may spend 40-years in prison?

Now onto the Solyndra thing and the bank money. Gill and his camp can use that against McNerney all they want, but it’s still a big fat “so what” from me. He accepted money from a failed company, big deal! Truth be told, I really don’t care who or how much money someone gives to a campaign whether it be a Republican or Democratic candidate I support. Money is how campaigns are won and the more money you have in your war chest the better your chances of winning are. Sorry, but its the truth.

But the blame McNerney thing really is par for the course from Gill. Something goes wrong on the campaign trail, blame McNerney! His age really does show as its a childish response as opposed to standing on the issue at hand.

This is not the first time Gill and his camp have tried to smear McNerney and blame him for something. For those who are unaware, Gill’s camp accused McNerney’s camp of stalking him which is more trivial at best . When you are a candidate, of course “being followed” is part of the campaign. I am not saying its right or wrong, but simply part of politics. For the record, McNerney’s camp said they had nothing to do with the videos.

I am sure this race will get nasty as we inch towards November, but this blaming the other guy tactic needs to stop. Let’s focus on the issues and Ricky Gill really does need to take some responsibility for his actions (in this case his associates actions) while stop trying to change the topic.

This really isn’t that big of deal until Gill’s team issued a very poor response.

Be open about it and move on, it’s much less painful on a campaign that way!

Mike, you are being a bit harsh on Ricky. While I agree with some of what you are saying and its logical and makes sense, but neither situation is exactly Ricky’s fault, he just surrounded himself with stupid people! The kid is 25, give him a break

He is not being to harsh, he is speaking truth. The Gill team is acting like a bunch of babies who do not want to deal with reality of getting caught so they blame McNerney when he wasn’t even involved. Gill doesn’t have my vote.

Not harsh, just did not appreciate him deflecting the blame. I’d do the same if the situation was reversed. Kudos for cancelling the event and that is where Gill’s team should have ended their statement, instead the make it about McNerney as a distraction. It actually makes me wonder if there is more to the story than what is being reported.